The story begins with four Johns Hopkins Chemical Engineering students Marie Eric, Tyler Guarino, Erin Walsh, and Rachel Nie who had to come up with their senior year project. They had to create the idea, prototype it, and had only a few months to try it out. The perfect idea fell into their laps one day, when their group mate, Erin, was eating a burrito and it unraveled all over her. There it was, the solution to all their problems, edible tape to hold your burrito together and an amazing senior year project.
How it works: This edible tape works by peeling it off the wax sheet paper, wetting it to activate it, and you simply apply it to your item of choice. Simple yet so creative and mind blowing!
As we interviewed two of the four groupmates Marie and Tyler to tell us about their journey to this viral creation, they explained to us how it became such an overnight sensation.
This is the Tastee Tape with dye for visibility.
The Origin Story
During their design day, they presented the item to their classmates and general faculty, and from their many other news sources picked it up and that is how it all began. The idea is being patented right now and ultimately their goal is to sell the idea to large corporations.
As student entrepreneurs we imagine their journey’s has not been easy at all, so we asked them how they were able to manage starting this business and what they would have done differently in the process of starting Tastee Tapes if anything at all.
They explained that it wasn’t easy to manage but as a team of 4 they were able to split up the work. They also had faculty and professors support them through the entire process. In terms of what they would do differently, they didn’t expect their senior project would or even could go viral so they wished they had done more research in the patent process and the in’s and out’s of starting a business. On that note, never underestimate your creations, you never know where it can take you!
They had ample advice to share with other fellow student entrepreneurs, as listed below:
- Start simple, no matter how crazy an idea may seem, if it is solving a common problem, don’t be surprised if it becomes a success!
- Educate yourself on starting a business even if you don’t plan to open one in the near future, that knowledge is super valuable.
- Create a business centered around what you love, it makes it more enjoyable.
- If things don’t work out at first, do not be discouraged, keep going, you never know where it can lead you.
- Network with people who work in the industry you plan to start a business in and who understand the patent process. They will be great resources in the future.
- There are so many resources out there, Hopkins has a generous amount of resources including JHtv (accelerated programs, funding opportunities, and much more), pro bono lawyers to help student entrepreneurs, the Hopkins network, OneHop (mentoring platform) , and much more!
The Future of Tastee Tape
As stated by Marie, “the fact that Tastee Tape has gone viral shows just how common the problem of messy burritos really is, and Tastee Tape does not only solve that problem but many other questions that haven’t even been asked yet. You can literally eat a tape that holds your food together, think about just how many messy food items that can be held together! The future of Tastee Tape is truly full with endless opportunities! Marie and Tyler, two out of the two teammates have decided to stay to obtain their master’s from JHU and will continue to improve their product with goals to ultimately license it out and sell it to other companies.
Feel free to reach out to them with any questions you may have about starting your business, managing a patent, or any other concerns you may have.
Below is their Linkedin Information!
